The Retrospective Review (Volume 12) (Paperback)

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: the third of January, 1596, the comedy of Silvanus was acted, in what College we cannot tell, neither by whom it was written. In the same year, Hispanus was acted, " in die comitiali." Of this we are in the same ignorance as the other. In 1597, Machiavellus was acted, probably at St. John's, as it was written by D. Wiburne, a fellow of the College; in which play there is a Jew, but very unlike Shylock. He is a shrewd intriguing fellow, of considerable humour, who, to obtain possession of a girl, puts a number of tricks on the Machiavel of the piece, and generally outwits him. In one scene, he overhears his rival despairing of success with the father of his mistress, and expressing a wish that he had some instrument wherewith to put an end to his misery. On this, he lays a knife in his way, but first takes care to whet it. To The Merchant of Venice, or Gernutm, the Latin play was indebted. These three are in the possession of Mr. Douce, who, it is to be hoped, will some day publish them. In this year, also, as Fuller f affirms, but, according to other authorities, in 1599, the comedy of Club Law was represented. Dr. Farmer was in possession of a manuscript play, without a title, which, from its tendency to abuse the mayor and corporation of Cambridge, has been supposed to be Club Law. Mr. Hawkins, in his edition of Ignoramus, thinks, that as it is wholly founded on the expectation of a visit from King James, and refers to events which happened in his reign, it does not seem probable that it was the Club Law that was performed in this year. Fuller has preserved some information concerning this play: ?it is to be doubted whether it now exists. He relates, "That the gownsmen conceiving themselves injured by the townsmen, the particulars whereof," he says, " I know not, betook themselv...